Chapter Four
missxma...@yahoo.com
Ryan and Ashley did what they said they were gonna do and moved with
Ryan's parents to Minnesota. Ryan knew about this place that no one
but him knew about, except Ashley. Ryan brought Ashley to this place
and Ashley wrote about it in her diary. She gave the place's name
and directions from her house. Every so often, Ryan would go there
by himself to get away from life. So would Ashley. The next time
Ryan would go to this happy place would be his last. It would also
be Ashley's last because once Ryan got there, he saw his ex-
girlfriend, Kasey. Kasey walked up to him.
"I thought you loved me." she said.
"Before Ashley nearly took her life for me. You would never do that."
said Ryan.
"I remember you used to bring me to a place like this place and you
said that you would never bring anybody else there but me."
"Listen, after that fire and saw what Ashley would do for me, I
thought you would never do what she will for me."
"I would of gone in there for you."
"No, you wouldn't. You would have just saved your own life and left me
in there to die."
"No, you're just afraid to admit it. You liked Ashley, she never liked
you. You broke up with me for her," Kasey pulls out a knife. "Not
knowing that, in the future I was going to pull a knife on you."
"Kasey, please don't, I have a baby on the way and I want to be there
for it."
"What? You? Having a baby? And I'm not the mother? What the hell are
you thinking?"
"I'm in love and I moved on without you, and you should, too."
"I'm not moving on." Kasey stabs Ryan in the shoulder and walks
away. Ryan falls to the ground. Once Kasey drove away, Ashley came
out of her hiding spot and ran to Ryan.
"Ryan!" said Ashley.
"She stabbed me."
"I know, I know, I know..."
"I love you, Ashley, and tell the baby that I love it, okay?" said
Ryan.
Ryan took one last deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Ryan, please, don't do this to me."
Ashley checked if Ryan was still alive and laid next to him, closing
her eyes.
Years Later
Years later, Joel had still missed his daughter. She wasn't dead nor
was she missing. It was earlier that year when Joel found out that
Ashley was alive and alright. He was wondering where Ashley could be
for the past couple of years. So he finally found the key to
Ashley's old diary to the time where Ashley and Ryan were still
"alive." Joel read that she moved to Minnesota. So Joel packed his
bags and drove himself to the airport, where he bought a airplane
ticket and flu himself to Minnesota. There, he met Ryan's parents,
but not Ryan or Ashley. Ryan's parents gave Joel his daughter's diary
that she forgot at the house. The keys that went to diaries, once you
have one diary, you could open most of them. So Joel used the key to
Ashley's old diary to Ashley's new diary to open it. He read the last
couple of entries of Ashley's diary. Joel read about the place where
Ryan bought Ashley. She gave the direction from Ryan's parent's house
and Joel fallowed the directions, hoping to see his daughter, dead or
alive, but come to find out, there was no bodies found at all. But
there was one thing that was left in the sand, a phone number....the
first three digits in Ryan's hand writing and the other four digits in
Ashley's hand writing. Should Joel call it? Joel puts it in his
address book of his cell phone. Once Joel arrived home, he called
the phone number. Something picked it up. It wasn't a person, it
was like an answering machine that didn't take your call. The voice
on the 'answering machine' said:
"Hello. You are just about to hear the real version of Ashley and
Ryan's story. Take a seat, it'll take a long time and you can't call
back after I'm done talking."
Joel hung up. He grabbed his tape recorder and ran over to his home
phone. He put the speaker on and called the number again. The
voice came back on again. This time, it said:
"So, I see that you're back and have a tape recorder. Great idea.
Press the record button now."
Joel pressed the record button.
"Hello. You are just about to hear a message of the real version of
Ashley and Ryan's story. Take a seat, it'll take a long time and you
can't call back after I'm done talking. The real story is told by
the real characters themselves, Ashley and Ryan. The place of this
phone number is where both Ashley and Ryan nearly took their lives for
each other. Now, the bodies of Ashley and Ryan are happily living in
a village that is in the middle of nowhere-still truly and deeply in
love. If you listen to their whole story in one sitting, with out
getting up from now to the end of Ashley and Ryan's message, your door
bell will ring. Answer it and you'll get a surprise. Enjoy!"
ASHLEY AND RYAN:
Hi. This is Ashley and Ryan.
ASHLEY:
You might have been wondering where we've been all these years.
RYAN:
Well, we're in a little town that no one know about but you because we
have told you when we knew you.
ASHLEY:
After you are done receiving this message,
RYAN:
You are gonna get a knock on a door.
ASHLEY:
Answer it.
The message was done. Then there was a knock on the door. Joel
answered it. There was a note on the ground right in front of him.
He grabbed it and looked at it. It said "Ashley's Father" on the
front of it. Joel went in his house and closed the door. He sat on
the coach and opened it. There was a letter inside that said: go the
place in the beginning with a shovel and get to work. Joel then
grabbed a shovel and went to where he found the phone number.
At The Place
Once Joel got to the place where the phone number was, he dug.
There, he found a locked box with the key inside the lock. He turned
the key and the locked opened. There was a cell phone inside. The
cell phone rang and Joel answered it. The cell phone was ringing, so
Joel answered it. Then there was ringing on the other end of the
phone, like the cell phone was ringing for someone to pick up to call
someone else. Joel was waiting for someone to answer the phone when
he heard a "hi."
"Hi, is this Ashley?" asked Joel.
"Yes, it is." said Ashley.
Then there was a pause. Joel didn't know what to say. He hasn't
seen his daughter in years. There were many things that Joel would
like to ask/say, but nothing came out. He was speechless. Ever
since Ashley vanished, he couldn't move on, his daughter was his
life. Joel would do anything to reunite with his daughter, even if
it meant his life. Ashley was Joel's only daughter and Joel knew he
couldn't have anymore because of his age.
"Hey, dad," said Ashley, breaking the silence.
"Yes, honey?" answered Joel.
"Look behind you."
"Okay," Joel said, looking behind him.
"Do you see that big plateau?"
"Yes, I do."
"Met me behind there."
"Ok."
"Ok, see you soon."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Bye."
"Bye"
Joel did what his daughter had said and went behind the plateau.
There, was his daughter. As soon as Joel saw his daughter, he ran
over and hugged her, almost knocking her down. Ashley didn't mind,
she wanted to see her father as bad as her father wanted to see her.
Once they were done, they started to walk to the town where Ashley and
Ryan had lived the past couple of years.
"So, how are you and Ryan doing?" asked Joel.
"Pretty good." answered Ashley.
"Married?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"Waiting for you."
"What?"
"I want you to walk me down the aisle."
"So, you guys have waited for me to find you guys to get married so I
could walk you down your aisle?"
"Yeah, are you ok with that?"
"Yeah."
Joel was still speechless.
A Couple Of Minutes Later
"In your dairy, you said you were pregnant. Was that true?" asked
Joel
"Yes." answered Ashley
"Is that why you ran away?"
"Yeah, in a way."
"Than why did you run away?"
"Well, I didn't really run away. Ryan ex-girlfriend stabbed Ryan in
the arm at the place where the phone number was and left. Then I
went up to him and checked to see if he was alright and then
fainted. Later, the people from the village I live in came for our
helped and saved our lives, so we decided to live at the village until
things settle down."
"Is Ryan's ex still out there?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, have you guys ever thought of coming back?"
"Yeah, it's just that me and Ryan want the best for our daughter and
if Ryan's ex is still out there and finds out that Ryan is still
alive, she might go after him again and we just don't want our
daughter to live without a parent."
"Well, when I go back home, I'm gonna call the police about Ryan's ex
and get her arrested because we all miss you back at home and want you
guys to come back and even if the police can't find Ryan's ex and Ryan
ends up getting killed, we'll all be there for you and your daughter,
ok?"
"Okay, thanks."
"It's from the heart."
Ashley and Joel then hug, again.
At The House
At the house, Joel met Ryan again. He also met his granddaughter
which welcomed him with a big "GRANDPA!" Then they talked for awhile.
After a little awhile, Ashley's and Ryan's daughter had to go to
bed. After they got her into her bed, Joel "had" to leave.
"I'll be coming back tomorrow." said Joel.
"Dad, are you really gonna go home at this time?" asked Ashley.
"Yeah, why not?" asked Joel.
"It's gonna take forever." answered Ashley.
"Yeah, I know." Joel responded.
"Stay the night, you probably won't get home until early tomorrow
morning and then you have to come back here again, so don't waste the
gas, just stay the night." said Ashley.
"Okay, okay, okay, I will." said Joel
"Okay."
Joel went back to sit on the coach where Ryan was while Ashley said
good-night to her daughter.
"Ashley told me about what happened between your ex-girlfriend and
you." said Joel to Ryan.
"Yeah, we still don't know where she might be." said Ryan.
"Is that why you've been staying here for so long?"
"Yeah, we just want the best for our daughter."
"Yeah, do you want to come back?"
"I love to. To see my parents again and all of my friends again-
it'll be awesome, but not until we know anything about my ex."
"I can help."
"You would?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you so much."
"No problem."
"Well, you probably want more information on my ex."
"Yeah."
"Well, her name's Kasey.................." Ryan continued to give Joel the
information. Joel wrote some notes on a half piece of paper about
Kasey.
The Next Day
The next day, Joel went home. The first thing that he did was called
the police. He told the police everything that Ryan told him about
Kasey and what she had done. The police did a search on Kasey and
found that she lives in the same place since the stabbing. The
police went over to Kasey's house after the conversation to question
her. They gathered enough evidence to arrest her. She said that
she wasn't anywhere near Ryan the day of his stabbing, but the police
knew that she was lying.
A Couple Of Months Later
Ashley, Ryan and their daughter is now all living with Joel. They
haven't been happier. Ashley and Ryan is now able to be with their
families and Joel is basically repeating his fatherhood with his
granddaughter.
Today is Ashley's and Ryan's wedding day and Ashley is in the bride
room. Joel is just standing in the door way, looking at his daughter
for the last moments before he gives her away. Finally, he knocks on
the door, getting Ashley's attention.
"Oh, hi, dad." said Ashley.
Ashley gets up from the chair she was sitting and walks over to her
father.
"Hi."
"I love you." said Ashley, hugging her dad.
"I love you, too." said Joel, hugging his daughter back.
It was moments before Joel asked: "Are you ready?"
"Ready when you are." responded Ashley.
Joel hugs his daughter even harder.
"No, I'm not ready." said Joel. Joel then looked at his daughter and
continued. "You're my life. I don't want to give you up. You're
my only little girl and nothing I know in my heart will replace you.
You will always be in my heart."
Joel starts to cry and then takes a deep breathe to cool down.
"Dad, you know we don't have to do this." said Ashley.
Joel looked at Ashley funny.
"Ryan will understand if we postpone the wedding until you're ready."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Joel thought it over.
Joel gives his daughter one last hug before he gives her away.
"Lets go get in line." said Joel.
Ashley smiled.
At The Reception
Ashley and Ryan was now opening presents. Ashley came across a
present from her father. She opened it. It was a nicely framed
poem. The poem said:
Walking down the aisle,
One step at a time
White satin rustles beside me.
A hand, smooth as mother of pearl, rests gently on my own.
I am escorting a beautiful woman;
Wasn't it only yesterday we were playing pretend.
She was my princess, and I her puppet
Now we are dancing in the real world, no longer pretend.
The stretch of the aisle comes to an abrupt halt.
Time seems to slip through my very grasp.
My little girl who used to run to me, arms open wide;
Is now leaving my side.
That smooth white hand squeezes mine in love and confidence
She leans forward for a farewell kiss.
Will someone please, turn back time?
Leaving me behind, she glides to a stranger
Someone new has taken my place.
They are saying their vows; their eternal commitment.
The end of the ceremony is drawing near.
Just as I think that all is forgotten, she turns to me
I love you Daddy.